GET READY (First Sunday of Advent - A)

Entering into Advent, today is almost a “new year” in the liturgical calendar of the Church.  The three readings speak about “time”. The prophet Isaiah in the First Reading prophesied about a time of peace when swords will become ploughshares, spears into pruning hooks and nation will not raise sword against nation.  In the second reading St. Paul reminds us that this is the time to choose life rather than death, light rather than darkness in the way we live our lives.  

The gospel this Sunday reminds us about the coming of the Son of Man!  Jesus points to the time of Noah when people lived their lives without knowing the impending deluge.  Except for the family of Noah in the ark, they all perished.   Just like the deluge, the Lord will also come at unexpected time so He urges us to be awake at all time.  Just like a thief can break into a house anytime, we have to be on guard!

From the moment we were born we entered into time and  we are given a timeline to spend for the rest of our lives; some short, some longer depending on the mission entrusted to us.   We say time is gold because it is up to us to turn time into something precious.  Therefore time is of great value that we do not want to waste away.  Given as a gift, time is an opportunity not just to develop ourselves into the being that God envisages us to be but to optimize our giftedness as well. As a gift, we have the corresponding responsibility to re-create it through our concrete acts of selfless giving.  Since Christ entered into time He transforms history into a pilgrimage and continuous to incarnate Himself in the world He had created.  During His lifetime, He re-created creation by 

un-selfing Himself  hence transforming the world into a sacred space for humanity to live in.  “In the same way that Christ gives incarnate expression to divine self-surrender, so too must participation in Christ result in concrete acts of selfless giving” (Hans Urs von Balthasar).   

In appreciation for the time that is entrusted to us, the best way to spend it is to give away ourself as a gift to others just like Christ who poured out totally Himself as a gift to us. 

To be awake is to break away from self-enclosure into self-surrender as expressed by the Church in her mission to outpour herself out for the world.   Advent brings us into that readiness to face God when we share ourselves totally to others without reserve.  When that happens then we are ready to meet the Immanuel who continues to indwell in us in the here and now of our existence. 

#frvladsundayhomilies

Judas Wednesday

Today we take a special look at Judas Iscariot. Who was Judas?  Why did he sell Jesus? What do we learn from him?

The gospel of Holy Monday gave us different portraits of Judas and Mary (the one who anointed Jesus’ feet).  Six days before the Passover, Jesus was in Bethany having dinner with Lazarus, Mary and Martha.   Mary expressed her super generosity by pouring in a pure nard (a very expensive perfume) unto the feet of Jesus and wiped them with her hair. When Judas saw this, he said “Why is this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor?”  John the one writing the story commented that Judas said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steel the contributions.  Judas was the treasurer and was a thief!

In the gospel of Holy Tuesday during the Last Supper we see again the difference portraits of Judas and Peter.  Amongst the twelve apostles, the two of them betrayed Jesus: Judas sold Jesus for thirty silver coins, Peter denied Jesus three times.  At the end, Judas despaired and hanged himself while Peter repented and was forgiven by Jesus.  Judas had nowhere to go in his greed, on the other hand Peter (according to tradition) went to Mary and asked  for help while he was in his grief.

Why did Jesus choose Judas as one of the Apostles

if he foreknew that Judas would betrayed him? It’s because Jesus believes in the inherent goodness of each person. He doesn’t judge us because of the bad things in our resumes.  He even chose Judas to be the treasurer and entrusted him the money of the band. Jesus simply believes that in spite of our “bad records” we can still change for the better.

Why did Judas sell Jesus? Because Judas was a thief, little by little he used to rob the common purse of the Apostles. Being used of doing it for the past three years that they were together, that evil scheme had already transformed him into a hungry monster.  

It is not important to ask whether Judas was saved or not but rather to learn the lesson from what he did.  We are all like Judas.  We have inherent goodness in us; we have been entrusted by God with so many gifts, resources and talents.  We always have the tendency to feed in the little monsters in our lives like the different addictions that entice us.  If we continue feeding these little monsters, we will crave for more until we are not able to control our cravings and one day those monsters will eat us up (this is the lesson we learn from “A Little Shop of Horrors”).

Even if we have done the worst thing, we don’t have to despair. We continue to believe that God loves us in spite of our sinfulness. We hope against hope that we can still change for the better.  Yes we are sinners like Judas but we are loved sinners.

PERSEVERANCE THROUGH THE END

33RD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - C

       We have now come towards the end of the journey in the Ordinary Time of the liturgical calendar of the Church.  Next Sunday being the last is the Solemnity of Christ the King.  Like any other journey, it has come to an end to give way to a new season which is Advent.  Life is cyclic! 

      Our gospel this Sunday belongs to a genre in biblical literature which what we call apocalyptic literature.  It is a unique body of work which describes in symbols the things to come at the end of time.  Because they are symbolic, they should not be interpreted in the literal sense.  One thing is sure though, that is, the world will come to an end like any other created realities.  

       The temple in Jerusalem was considered as one of the most beautiful buildings in the world during the time of Jesus.  It was predicted by Jesus that one day it would be put into complete ruins.  When he was asked the time of of its occurrence, Jesus did not say 'when' but rather he pointed out the signs that would accompany its fulfilment: false prophets, wars, insurrections, earthquakes, famines, plagues and other cosmic happenings.  There would be very harsh persecutions!  

      Because the Church brings us through a journey, it makes us realise that the end is inevitable.  The signs mentioned are those that would accompany the end.  They are more important than knowing the exact time of the end.  They are not only pointing to  the coming of the end of time but also act as warnings that the end is already at hand. 

       If the signs like wars, earthquakes, super typhoons and persecutions are already here with us therefore the end of time is also around the corner.  It means that our life and all other realities that we experience are telling us an important lesson:  impermanence!  Nothing will last!  Everything hangs on in a borrowed time!  The most important thing is not yesterday nor tomorrow but today that's why we call it present.  It is a precious gift that is lent to us by God!  

      To live life to the fullest by doing good to others is the best way to persevere despite the hard times ahead of us.  To entrust ourselves to God, knowing that nothing will harm us despite the overwhelming darkness and pains that continue to confront us, is itself the gift of faith!  To know that God is in charge of our life is itself a sweet victory!

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BOUNDLESS GOD!

2ND SUNDAY OF EASTER 

(DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY)

         In a world that refuses to accept reality until it is verified by the senses and empirical science, transcendence becomes passé, spirituality is useless and religion is empty.   Doubting Thomas lives on until this  time with his legacy of skepticism which refuses belief until proven by  physical experience.

       Whether we accept it or not, we are born natural skeptics!  We do not want to appear naïve or credulous to other people and to simply believe in hearsays, unfounded stories, cheap gossips and unverified reports.  In a way natural skepticism is healthy because it protects us from falling into the pit of the gullible but it has its own limitations.   All of us are standing between the real world and the boundless mystery that beckons to be explored but our human limitations bow in humility to understand and capture the unknown. 

 

      Thomas as an Apostle and representing those men and women in the later generations demanded a proof:  “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails and place my finger in his side, I will not believe.”  When Christ appeared and agreed to Thomas’ condition, Thomas did not even dare to do the physical examinations, he said “My Lord and my God.”  It was an expression of affirming both the humanity (my Lord) and the divinity (my God) of Jesus Christ.  Now henceforth he would be representing all those peoples in later generations who without experiencing Jesus in the flesh will profess such profound faith. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”

      The belief in the Resurrection was not founded in the empty tomb but rather on the testimony of those who encountered the Risen Christ through the many resurrection stories which have been handed down through generations until they reached us and shaped our belief.  The story of Thomas is the story of us all.  We have moments of disbelief when we demand for proofs of the presence of God most especially in times of darkness and fear.  Often times there are no proofs given other than the invitation for a leap of faith to embrace God in the realm of the unknown.    We can never capture the sense of the mysticism and mystery of God unless we let go and simply believe like Thomas did!

       
Divine Mercy Sunday
  
  The celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday is not just about a devotion entrusted to St. Faustina and was made a universal feast of Pope John Paul II.   Rather it brings us back to that mystical event on Calvary.  When Jesus died and his breast was pierced with a lance, the heart of God was opened inviting all humanity to enter into the immensity of God's mercy.  The Church was born from the heart of Jesus beneath Calvary!   Mary and John representing the Church which was now the New Humanity, received the two great sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist symbolized by the water and blood that flowed from the heart of Jesus.  But only those who profess their belief, like Thomas, can enter into the heart of God and bask in the unfathomable mercy of God.